Lab Report: The Marathon Plan

Five steps to your best marathon next fall

Early to mid-summer is the perfect time to start preparing for a fall marathon. To be optimally prepared, most runners need at least 12 weeks to gear up from "normal" training, and a few more weeks of specific marathon preparation can provide added confidence on race day. Your typical training load is the starting point to make your assault on the marathon distance, so the more you run the rest of the year, the easier it is to ramp up to specific marathon training. Let’s look at six key elements to developing an effective marathon training plan.

1) Structure your training. The first step in developing your marathon training plan is to provide an overall structure, including balancing marathon-specific preparation and recovery. For example, if you decide to start ramping up your workouts 14 weeks before your marathon, you can break that down neatly into two training blocks of four weeks each, followed by a final three-week training block and three weeks to taper before your marathon.

During the four-week training blocks you would increase your training each week during the first three weeks and use the fourth week for recovery. Recovery weeks are vital to your progress because they allow your body to adapt to the key workouts you put in during hard training weeks. A rule of thumb for recovery weeks is to run 60 to 70 percent of your previous week’s mileage, without any intense or exhausting sessions. You would then have three final weeks of hard training before you start your final taper.

2) Ramp up your long run. For most marathoners, the primary challenge of the marathon is to maintain a consistent pace throughout the 26.2 miles. I consider that the marathon has been mastered when the time for the second half is within about three minutes of the first half. Long runs provide the most specific stimulus for maintaining pace during the second half of the race.

In deciding how long and how frequent your long runs should be, you need to balance the benefits of long runs with the likelihood of injury. The probability of injury increases significantly as runs go beyond 20 miles, because when your muscles are highly fatigued, they lose their resiliency, which increases your risk of muscle strains, tendonitis, and even stress fractures. In addition, towards the end of long runs, running technique tends to deteriorate, which can further increase the likelihood of injury.

Novice marathoners with the goal to finish should include no more than one to two 20-milers in their marathon training. More experienced marathoners need to weigh their past injury history against their desire for a personal best performance and willingness to take risks. A reasonable target during a 14-week build-up is to do four to six 20-milers, including two runs of 22 miles.

Many marathoners alternate weeks of harder long runs with easier long runs, or follow a three-week pattern of relatively strenuous long runs two weeks in a row, and a shorter, easier long run the third week. Increasing the distance of your long runs by one mile per week, with a shorter run every third week, allows you to ramp up fairly quickly while giving your body time to adapt positively to the increased training load.

For most experienced marathoners, the last long run should be three weeks before the marathon and be in the range of 18 to 22 miles. This provides a strong training stimulus while providing enough recovery so you are optimally prepared on race day.

3) Prepare to sustain your goal marathon race pace. Lactate threshold pace (LT pace) is the best predictor of distance running performance, and is the fastest pace you can run without the lactate (lactic acid) level in your muscles and blood increasing rapidly. For experienced runners, LT pace is closely approximated by the pace you could maintain in a one-hour race. LT pace, therefore, is obviously quicker than marathon race pace (MRP), but training throughout this range of effort is highly beneficial for marathon performance.

Three great workouts to improve your ability to maintain goal MRP include: 1) classic tempo runs of 25 to 40 minutes at LT pace; 2) long tempo runs of 40 to 60 minutes at slightly slower (5-15 seconds per mile) than LT pace; and 3) long runs at MRP. Long runs at MRP are the most specific type of marathon preparation, but there is a risk in doing too many of these sessions because they require more recovery than slower runs and have an inherent risk of injury. A more conservative way to simulate the last 10 miles of the marathon (i.e., running at MRP when fatigued), while reducing the required recovery time, is to start your long runs at a moderate pace and increase your effort to MRP for the last hour or so. In developing your marathon training plan, an effective approach is to follow a four-week cycle in which you rotate classic tempo runs, long tempo runs, a longer run at MRP and a tune-up race.

4) Simulate the course and race conditions during training. Many marathons are defined by their terrain or environmental conditions, and you need to be prepared for what is in store. For example, it pays to be ready for the uphill at 15 miles followed by the downhill onto First Avenue at the ING New York City Marathon, the wind coming off the lake at the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon, the downhills throughout Boston, heat in L.A. and cold at Twin Cities. In training for a hilly marathon course, insert uphills and downhills in your long runs at approximately the same point that you will encounter them in the race. Downhill training is particularly important because it has a protective effect that reduces muscle damage from the downhills during the actual race.

5) Taper your training during the last three weeks. After your last long run, it is time to taper your training and focus mentally and physically on the marathon. The taper is still the most overlooked element of training, and many marathoners arrive at the starting line less than optimally prepared. During your taper, each hard training day should be followed by two easy days, and both the hard workouts and recovery sessions should decrease in volume as the race gets closer. I recommend running 70 to 80 percent of your peak weekly mileage the third week before your marathon, 50 to 60 percent the second week pre-marathon, and about 30 percent for the six days leading up to your marathon.

6) Adopt a marathoner’s lifestyle. The final critical step in developing your marathon training program is to add non-running activities that will help you reach your marathon goals. This includes core strength training, which helps you maintain technique during the latter stages of the race, and flexibility sessions to help maintain your stride length. Additional elements that can aid your recovery include massage, staying well-hydrated, taking in enough carbohydrates to sustain your increased training load, and maintaining a more regular sleep pattern. These "lifestyle factors" often make the difference between recovery versus injury or illness during the high stress of marathon preparation.